Divergent Courage: An Earthbound FanFic
by Daxian
Summary: Set twenty years after Earthbound, in Eagleland. The story revolves around a young man named Dominic and his determination to break free from evil conformity. Along the way he may just find friendship, maturity, and perhaps even romance.
1. Chapter 1: Conscience

+Author's Notes+

Hello, and welcome to my first fanfic published here! In case you didn't read the summary, this is an Earthbound (Mother series) fanfic. As a general disclaimer, I do not own the Mother series or am affiliated with them in anyway; they're just a really cool series that I'm writing a fanfic on.

Another important thing for you, the reader, to know is that when I have a character thinking to themselves, I use italics to express it. Normally only the main character, Dominic, expresses individual thought, so I don't bother tagging the italic thoughts with "_blahblah_ , Dominic thought to himself". However, if the situation ever arises where another character is thinking to themselves, I will clearly point it out for clarity.

One last thing: I currently do not plan on having any of the previous main characters that starred in the Mother video games make personal appearances in the story. I do plan on referencing them in dialogue, as you will see below in the Prologue section. However, if I ever get far enough along with this story and/or get numerous requests, I may incorporate them into special guest appearances. In other words, only time will tell.

Whew! That was a good chunk to get out of the way. Without further ado, I present to you the beginning of my fanfic!

* * *

**+Prologue+**

Two decades ago in the year 199X, an intergalactic destroyer named Giygas came to Earth with the most evil of intentions. Thanks to a meteor crash, a boy named Ness from Eagleland began a long journey, along with three friends, to defeat the evil Giygas. Ness and friends successfully vanquished Giygas, returning peace to Eagleland and Earth.

It is now the year 202X. Eagleland has seen nothing but peace and serenity over the past two centuries. Ness and his friends have gone on to lead enriched, successful lives of happiness in their hometowns.

Our story, however, begins in a lesser known region of Eagleland, where life tends to be all work and no play; the town of Blisston.

* * *

**+Ch 1: Conscience+**

BRZZZZT! BRZZZZT! BRZZZZZZZZZT!!

Dominic grumbled as he reached over to turn off his alarm clock. Eyes still closed, he fumbled the alarm device with his numb fingers in attempt to find the On/Off switch. After a few seconds of accidentally turning the clock's radio on, he finally managed to turn off the alarm.

Gently rubbing his eyes, Dominic squinted at the clock.

_8:13... … … oh no! I'm late for school!_

Dominic frantically leapt out of his bed and made a mad dash for his dresser. He grabbed the first t-shirt he could find, which as a green and purple striped shirt. After nearly ripping hole in it with his head, he sprinted to the bathroom while simultaneously grabbing a pair of denim shorts off of the floor.

His left hand moving a toothbrush up and down; his right hand trying to get the shorts to slide up his legs. Dominic was trying his best to multitask to save time, but it was more difficult than efficient. Soon he finally got his shorts on and zipped, allowing him to finish up his brushing.

After he spat out the toothpaste, Dominic reached for the bar of deodorant. Hastily, he rolled the deodorant underneath his shirt and set it back down when he was done. Dominic then glanced at the mirror; his brown hair was a frizzled mess.

_No time to fix up my hair… I'll just grab my cap on the way out._

Panting as he ran, Dominic made his way downstairs. He slipped on his purple socks and navy blue shoes, then snagged his purple baseball cap from the coat rack. Dominic breathed a sigh of relief; part one was over. Now all that was left was to run to school and hope he could sneak into class.

Just as Dominic's right hand reached the diamond-shaped door knob, he heard a voice cry out from the kitchen.

"Pookie! Eat something before you leave!" shouted the voice with concern.

It was his mother.

"Sorry mom, I'm late!" replied Dominic. "I'll eat a double sized dinner when I get home to make up for it, okay?"

Dominic didn't hesitate any longer. He rushed out the front door, almost slamming the door behind him. Once outside, he quickly got onto the sidewalk and began sprinting again. School was only three blocks away, so he could make somewhat good time if he went straight there.

One block and a half later, something caught Dominic's eye from the street corner. A person in a trench coat was on the ground and was being beat up by the Barracudas, the local street gang. Dominic stopped a moment to consider what to do.

_Oh geeze, that person is in trouble… what should I do? If I try and stop the Barracudas, they'll most likely start wailing on me too… but I can't stand here and let that person be mistreated. What should I do… what should I do…_+Closing Comments+

* * *

Well, I hope you enjoyed the short beginning of my fanfic! Before you ask… yes, I do plan on having chapters be longer than this one. I just felt that if I rushed the beginning with a super long intro, it'd bog down too much.

Please comment! I appreciate all forms of criticism, especially constructive. If you don't like something I wrote, by all means, give me some suggestions! I'm very liberal, so I'll definitely take things into consideration. I also welcome any story-suggestions/ideas.

Until next time…!


	2. Chapter 2: Gang Fight

+Author's Notes+

For the record, I typed up chapter 1 really late last night, specifically around 1:00 am. Chapter 2 was written during my study hall at school, so I'd say I was more awake and full of ideas. Case said, I hope this is a good chapter for those reading.

* * *

+**Ch.2: Gang Fight**+

Dominic knew the right thing to do. He had to help the person in need, no matter what the consequences of facing the Barracudas would present.

"Hey, leave that person alone!" yelled Dominic as he approached the gang.

There were three gang members here total. One was really tall and looked to be the leader of the bunch. Another one was about the same height as Dominic (5'7"), and the last was significantly short. They all were wearing similar outfits bearing the text "BARRACUDAS" on their bodies.

The tallest one signaled for the other two to stop their beating. He leaned forward towards Dominic.

"Who do you think you are? Not only did you just address us without being told to do so, you just gave us a command!" spoke the tall one. "Does that sound like a pretty accurate report of what this flea just did, fellas?"

"Oh yeah boss; he was totally off by addressing us." replied the short one.

"This piece of garbage thinks he can tell us what to do! Whaddya say we take a break from teaching that stranger our local customs and clean up this walking trash?" suggested the tall one.

"Sounds excellent boss! A sublime idea!" said the medium sized one, cracking his knuckles.

Dominic gulped. He knew there was no way out of fighting now. He quickly scanned around to see if there was anything he could use to defend himself with. His eye caught a glimpse of a moderately big stick near his feet; he picked it up.

"Nyeheheh! This idiot thinks he can defend himself with a wooden stick!" laughed the medium sized one. "I'll show you just why the Barracuda gang rules this neighborhood!"

The gang member was coming towards Dominic. Without hesitation, Dominic swung the stick as hard as he could and closed his eyes.

SMAAAASH!!

The gang member was sent backwards, flailing his arms as he fell. His arms accidentally smacked the short gang member just before his fall, leading them both to be knocked out.

Dominic opened his eyes and saw the outcome of his swing. He knocked out two of them with one blow! He smiled with pride of his sudden feat.

Seeing Dominic smile was like salt in a wound; the tall gang member began fuming his head off.

"I'll wipe that arrogant smirk off your mug, punk!" he yelled as he charged forward.

Dominic swung the stick once more and hit the tall gang member square on the forehead. The stick cracked into two upon impact, but the tall member fell over, seemingly knocked out.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Dominic knew that he had to check up on the person that was being beat up before. After taking just one step, however, he felt something grab his leg. Next came a forceful tug, causing Dominic to fall down.

Dominic spun his body around. It was the gang member; he was not out yet! The member brandished a concealed pocketknife.

"No more mercy because you're a punk… I'm going to gut you, you little…"

Before the gang member could finish his sentence, police sirens were heard from around the corner.

"Damn, it's the fuzz… someone probably called them when they saw us dragging the stranger here for a beating." muttered the tall gang member. "Seems to be your lucky day, punk. But I swear, I will get revenge on you someday… punk!"

With that said, the gang member ran off dragging his fallen comrades. Dominic stood up and brushed himself off. He had won.

_Now, to check on that person…_

Dominic turned around only to see that the trench coat-wearing person had vanished. He looked around in all directions, but he saw no one hiding or running away.

_They must've came to during the fight and ran away without us noticing… I hope whoever it was is ok._

Dominic heard the police sirens again. If they saw him, they might assume he was playing hooky, like he did back in 8th grade. The neighborhood police had caught Dominic doing said act numerous times, and they knew his face by now.

_I better take a path through someone's yard to avoid being seen… being caught by police is far worse than having to face my teachers for being late. At least, I think so…_

Leaping a fence, Dominic resumed his sprint towards school. He quickly made his way through twelve more neighborhood yards before finally seeing his school in front of him.

* * *

+Closing Comments+

I think I did pretty well on this chapter. It's much longer than the first, so that's a definite improvement. The only things I'm not satisfied with is how I repeatedly had to talk about the gang members by saying "the tall one" or "the medium sized gang member". Oh well, not that big of an ordeal.

Well, two chapters down, and many more planned for the future! Oh, in case anyone is wondering… next chapter just might have some PSI in it!


	3. Chapter 3: Suspended

+Author's Notes+

Just a general reminder: at this point in the story, all italicized thought-statements are made only by Dominic. Later in the story there will be more characters thinking, and at that point I will begin identifying the people thinking. Hope that clears up any confusion!

+Ch.3: Suspended+

Dominic quickly ascended the front stairs and came to the main entrance. Slowly, he opened the door and crept inside

_Sweetness… not a soul in sight. Now I just need to sneak into my study hall class, and I'm good to go!_

Dominic was down the hallway in seconds and came to a junction where he would turn right. Behind him, he heard a door open. He glanced back to see that it was the office secretary; she had seen him going down the hall!

"Young man, why aren't you in class?" hissed the woman.

_Crap._

"Uh… I was on a bathroom break!" replied Dominic as he broke into a mad dash down the next hall. He kept looking back to see if the secretary was chasing after him. After running ten feet, he slammed into someone.

"Oof!" cried Dominic. He looked up to see who he had hit; it was none other than the principal.

_Double--no, triple crap!_

"Trying to sneak into school late again, Mr. Dominic?" snapped the principal. "To my office, now!"

Dominic sighed a breath of defeat and reluctantly paced to the principal's office like he had last week. Once inside, he sat down in the student's spot as the principal took refuge behind his big, corporate desk.

The principal's office was devoid of much color and excitement; just like the rest of the school. Sappy motivational posters littered the wall, and filing cabinets lined up side by side. The desk was a basic rectangular desk with ordered papers on top, as well as a block spelling "Mr. Boyle, Principal".

"Dominic, this is the fifth time this quarter you've been tardy and caught sneaking in." grumbled the principal. "Well, let's hear what caused your tardiness this time."

"Mr. Boyle, I was late today because I got into a fight--"

"Picking fights now as well? This is a new low for you." interrupted Mr. Boyle.

"Let me finish." said Dominic. "The Barracudas gang was beating up someone, so I stepped in and fought them to protect that person."

"Gangs? In our perfectly peaceful town? Nonsense." replied the principal.

_What a blimp! All the townsfolk know troubles the Barracudas give us… there's no way he could not know about it, unless he's--_

"Okay, I will humor your little theory." guffawed Mr. Boyle. "Let's pretend this gang you speak of does exist. The person they were 'beating up'-- the one you said you 'saved'. Who was it_?"_

"I… didn't get a chance to see them up close." Dominic said as he hung his head, realizing he was going to get nowhere.

"That's what I though; completely made up." smirked the principal. "Lying about being a little 'hero' so you can excuse yourself for being late won't here; I'm too smart and better than you. In addition, nothing you can come up with will excuse you from your punishment now."

"Please Mr. Boyle, just let--"

"I am hereby suspending you from school for one week."

"What!?" shrieked Dominic. "But this is just being tardy!"

"I'm well aware that it's 'just being tardy'." haughtily replied the principal. "It seems that normal punishments haven't been making any impact on you, so I concluded that a suspension is the only thing that will get you to realize that your deviant behavior is irrational. I'm going to be calling your mother to tell her to pick you up; I'm sure she won't be pleased to hear my voice"

Then Mr. Boyle grinned the most wretched smile Dominic had ever seen.

"Maybe if your mother begs and grovels for you, I'll let you off with half the sentence." said Mr. Boyle.

Dominic snapped. He lunged forward at Mr. Boyle and grabbed him by the collar of his suit.

"You can look down upon me all you want, you pig… but don't you ever talk about my mother like that!!" exploded Dominic.

In seething rage, Dominic flung Mr. Boyle backwards against the wall and quickly ran away afterwards. The principal grunted as he got up from being thrown.

"Hmph! Little whelp…" he barked.

Mr. Boyle began to smell something burning. His neck was also beginning to feel extremely warm. He hastily opened a drawer in his desk and grabbed a hand-mirror. He screamed and began to ran around frantically after what he saw.

The collar of his suit was on fire, exactly where Dominic had grabbed him.

+Closing Comments+

Well, that was a decently long chapter!

So, starting to get a grasp on how things tend to work in the society of Blisston? Ignoring crime, haughty attitudes…

And what was the deal with Mr. Boyle being on fire at the end? Eh? You want me to tell you? Sorry, my lips are sealed until Chapter 4!


End file.
